Following an unusually short meeting of the Trigg County Fiscal Court, it seems that costs for county services are skyrocketing, with little remedy in sight.

One of four items on the docket last Tuesday was a transfer of funds from the General Fund of the county to the Jail Fund to pay bills. The amount of the transfer was $40,000, double what is typically transferred to pay expenses such as payroll, utilities and prisoner costs.

Last month meeting of the court the magistrates voted to approve a transfer of $20,000 to pay similar bills, an occurrence that has been approved at least 6 times this year.

However, the Oct. 4 transfer was to pay for rising expenses, Judge-Executive Berlin Moore said, which included over $800 in prisoner medical expenses – something Moore is not thrilled about paying.

“I think we can expect that to continue to rise probably,” Moore said at the meeting.

Moore also said at the meeting that in years past such medical expenses totaled approximately $1,200 for the entire year.

Prisoner population has risen as well as newly introduced state statute requiring at least two jail personnel to be on staff at all times. Moore has said in the past the new law forces jails similar to Trigg County – classified as a “life and safety” jail – to close because of the increase in cost.

For the rest of this article, please see this week's edition of The Cadiz Record.